Summoning

[Pyratheon]

So, in my game I've got a Summoner, and also a Cleric who's able to summon monsters.

Essentially, I'm wondering how the mechanics work for the summoned monsters. That is, do they have their own turn, initiative roll, and so forth? Or do you have to substitute actions if you want your summoned creature to do something? Also, is there any difference between summoned creatures from different classes?

If there's anything else in particular I should know about summoning, I'd be grateful for any response!

Thanks.

[SuperUberGeek]

A summoned creature goes on the turn of the character who summoned it. Once the creature is summoned, the summoner (small "s" there) can take it actions as usual. So the Summoner can summon a monster as a standard action using his class feature, then take a move action and the summoned creature gets its action. The cleric spends a full round summoning, then at the beginning of its next turn, the creature appears and the cleric has his full action to do what he wants.

[Pyratheon]

So, a summoner just summons it, and it gets to act after the summoner's turn, while a Cleric has to use a full round summoning, and the summoned monster won't appear until the cleric's next turn? Full round actions have always confused me a bit - so far I've gone with spell effects = immediate. I'm probably doing something horribly wrong, however.

[Harley Quinn X]

Yes. There's a difference between "Full Round action" and "1 Round action". Full Round actions take a standard and the move action. A 1 Round spell like Summon Monster needs the whole time between the Clerics rounds to complete. So if the Cleric takes damage during the time it is summoning, it needs to make a concentration check against the DC (10 + damage taken + level of the spell) or lose it.

[SuperUberGeek]

SRD wrote:

Casting Time

Most spells have a casting time of 1 standard action. Others take 1 round or more, while a few require only a swift action.

A spell that takes 1 round to cast is a full-round action. It comes into effect just before the beginning of your turn in the round after you began casting the spell. You then act normally after the spell is completed.

A spell that takes 1 minute to cast comes into effect just before your turn 1 minute later (and for each of those 10 rounds, you are casting a spell as a full-round action, just as noted above for 1-round casting times). These actions must be consecutive and uninterrupted, or the spell automatically fails.

When you begin a spell that takes 1 round or longer to cast, you must continue the concentration from the current round to just before your turn in the next round (at least). If you lose concentration before the casting is complete, you lose the spell.

A spell with a casting time of 1 swift action doesn't count against your normal limit of one spell per round. However, you may cast such a spell only once per round. Casting a spell with a casting time of 1 swift action doesn't provoke attacks of opportunity.

You make all pertinent decisions about a spell (range, target, area, effect, version, and so forth) when the spell comes into effect.

The summoner only gets to do it as a standard action if he is using his spell like ability. If he is using a summon monster spell, he also takes a full round action.